33 Bible Verses about Fasting, Nature Of

And Ezra arose from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came thither, he ate no bread and drank no water; for he mourned because of the unfaithfulness of them that had been carried away.

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;

And when it was day, the Jews, having banded together, put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they should kill Paul.

And as he did so year by year, as often as she went up to the house of Jehovah, she provoked her thus; and she wept and did not eat.

Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were concubines brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.

A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls. On the ninth of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept; they sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

And he was three days without seeing, and neither ate nor drank.

And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

all the valiant men arose, and took up the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the terebinth of Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

And David besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he ate no bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice; and how shall we say to him, The child is dead? he may do some harm.read more.
But David saw that his servants whispered, and David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing, and entered into the house of Jehovah and worshipped; then he came to his own house and required them to set bread before him, and he ate.

And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread, and drank no water. And he wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words.

And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he hungered.

forty days, tempted of the devil; and in those days he did not eat anything, and when they were finished he hungered.

And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you. In the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, the home-born, and the stranger that sojourneth among you; for on that day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you: from all your sins shall ye be clean before Jehovah. A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls: it is an everlasting statute.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Also on the tenth of this seventh month is the day of the atonement: a holy convocation shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and present an offering by fire to Jehovah. And ye shall do no manner of work on that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Jehovah your God.read more.
For every soul that is not afflicted on that same day, shall be cut off from among his peoples. And every soul that doeth any manner of work on that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. No manner of work shall ye do: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls. On the ninth of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

And on the tenth of this seventh month ye shall have a holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls; no manner of work shall ye do.

And much time having now been spent, and navigation being already dangerous, because the fast also was already past, Paul counselled them,

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful gatherings. Love ye then truth and peace.

when Bethel had sent Sherezer and Regem-melech, and his men, to supplicate Jehovah, and to speak unto the priests that were in the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done now so many years? And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,read more.
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye really fast unto me, even unto me?

The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus to himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer. I fast twice in the week, I tithe everything I gain.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.

But the men of Israel were distressed that day. Now Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food until evening, and until I am avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted food.

And the man of God said to the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; for so was it charged me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that thou shalt go.

And she wrote in the letter saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people;

And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah, for all the people in Jerusalem, and for all the people that came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

And while it was drawing on to daylight, Paul exhorted them all to partake of food, saying, Ye have passed the fourteenth day watching in expectation without taking food.

in stripes, in prisons, in riots, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

in labour and toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat and wept, and mourned for days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of the heavens,

and herself a widow up to eighty-four years; who did not depart from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers;